A report has found that high technology companies attracted 84% of all Irish venture capital investment money in 2005.
This was well ahead of the European average of 17%, according to the Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies in UCD. Employment in companies backed by venture capital investment grew by 39% in 2005.
One of the report's authors, Professor Frank Roche said that at a time of closures and cutbacks by international firms, indigenous VC-backed companies had an important role to play in creating high-value jobs.
'They grow faster, create more employment, export more and invest more in R&D and in sales and marketing than other indigenous firms,' he added. The companies covered by the report recorded sales growth of almost €2 billion in 2005, up 34%. Exports accounted for 63% of their revenues, compared with 33% in similar UK firms.
